Convergence
by Raidersrule76
Summary: A freak accident strands three fighters from two different timelines in a new and unfamiliar world. They must unite, together with the heroes of that world, to combat the greatest threat that any of them have ever known.
1. Fate and Circumstance

**RR76**: I'm certain that more than a few of my faithful readers (at this point I think I have two left) are scratching their heads and asking yourselves "omg wtf?" Let me explain.

I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say, my inspiration has been zip this whole year. I've been working on the same damn chapter for Sound and Fury for seven months now, and after all these months, I'm only halfway through.

One night, while watching my uncle's house as he spent the weekend in Monteray, I ended up stumbling onto a Sailor Moon video, I don't remember what it was--DEFINATELY not an AMV, which happen to be the bane of my existence. I watched. I laughed. I enjoyed.

Not too long before this, I'd found a website that had old Dragon Ball Z episodes available for viewing. Legally, of course. Ahem. I'd entertained myself with these for a month or two.

So then an idea popped into my head. And I kicked it around, twisting it into various pleasing shapes and forms, until I got it more or less in a shape that I liked it in. And heck, when I finally sat down to write it, the ideas flowed so naturally and almost nonstop; it was like a laxative for my mind.

And then the computer locked up, and I had to start from scratch, resulting in a less-enjoyable version of this chapter that I'd worked on for several hours.

...But I'm not bitter.

Feel free to read, or not. That's a lie. I'd like you to read, and to tell me your honest opinion of it, whether it rules and I should continue, whether it needs work but is still enjoyable, or whether I should delete it and stick to my day job.

Expand on the criteria all you like. Read, my pretties, read...

A bit of background info first: My brother was a giganimous Sailor Moon fan in his earlier years--early to mid teens--and with so little to do at any given point of time, I ended up watching it with him, and enjoying it to a certain extent. Thanks to an airtight memory that absorbs useless information like a sponge, I still remember most of the stuff I'd gleaned from the show, and what I couldn't remember (or what just plain didn't make sense) I gathered from Wikipedia and a few other sources for the purposes of writing this fic. While I was never the giganimous Sailor Moon fan that my brother was--he was borderline obsessive--I have alot of nostalgia about Sailor Moon, even if I can acknowledge that it's predictable and formulaic, and can be hard to watch sometimes because the dialogue is sophomoric and often gives away critical plot elements like free samples of laundry detergent.

As far as DBZ is concerned, I don't think there's too many boys (girls?) who didn't watch it for a period of time in their childhood, and even now, as childish as it seems, I still think that it can be a fun show to watch, as long as it's uncut. None of that "next dimension," bullshit. Definately alot of nostalgia for DBZ, and as hard as I try to find fault, I really can't alot of the time. Basically, this story is being written for the sake of my nostalgia, as well as giving an opportunity for my favorite character, Goten, to show what he's really made of. I mean, he's always secondary to Trunks or Gohan. Trunks got to kick Buu in the face AND piss on Broly's head, and what did Goten do? Seriously. That kid needs some damn recognition, and if I have my way, he will.

...You've tarried long enough. Please read now.

* * *

Days as lovely as this were few and far in between. With temperatures in the mid seventies, and a wide, cloudless expanse of blue sky, it seemed like the perfect day for an outing to the beach with friends or a quiet stroll through the woods with a lover. A beautiful, serene day. 

None of this occurred to Trunks Briefs as he sailed through the air and slammed hard into a massive rock formation, which immediately crumbled and collapsed onto the Super Saiyan, burying him under hundreds of pounds of rubble. Battered and beaten, but still alive, Trunks lay for a moment and wondered just how the hell he had gotten into this situation.

He'd seen more physically intimidating creatures than the one he faced now. He had squared off with the ruthless androids--cyborgs who had plagued his world for as long as he could remember. He'd fought and killed the galactic menace Frieza in a single blow. He had gone toe-to-toe with the abomination that was Cell and had come out of the encounter standing, and mostly intact. Hell, he'd even died. How many people can say that they've died, and lived to brag about it? And yet, what he now faced was more powerful, more beastly, more terrifying than anything he'd yet encountered.

The monster he was fighting was a blubbery pink buffoon.

Sure, he looked innocent enough. His laugh was childish and cute. His voice, his tone, his mannerisms, were all like those of a curious young boy. But this Majin Buu held a menace that far outshone any of these qualities. A menace that chilled Trunks to the bone, a casual, playful sort of way of doing his evil deeds that was just downright unnatural and unsettling.

But it wasn't this that irked Trunks so. He was used to ruthlessness and terror--been there, done that. It was the squat, catfish-like wizard that tugged Buu's strings that got to him. It was, specifically his laughter--oh, Kami, how he _hated _the laughter.

And speak of the devil, there it was, drifting across the wind and meeting his ears, a high-pitched squeaky noise that frothed with humorless mirth. More than anything else, more than the broken ribs and the steady trickle of blood down his face, Trunks hated Babidi's laughter.

"You don't learn your lessons well, do you?" The mocking Trunks could accept. The laughter, not so much. "Time after time you keep charging, and time after time, my Buu throws you aside like a rag doll. You must be getting tired of the same old routine. My offer still stands you know. You can lay down your arms and die peacefully with the rest of this planet, or you can join us. It's really your decision though, and I can't make it for you." Babidi chuckled again.

Trunks ground his teeth together in frustration. The _laughter.  
_

Slowly, wincing at the pain it caused him to do so, he reached into his trousers-pocket, feeling around for the ancient, worn-out burlap pouch.. Trunks' fingers entered the pouch, and counted off the remaining senzu (eight) before taking one and raising it gingerly to his mouth.

The bitter taste spread quickly as he bit down on the bean. Senzu weren't his favorite food, but they were quite handy in a pinch. As the magic bean worked its way through his system, Trunks felt his energy return. His aura sprang into being once more and expanded, incinerating his rocky tomb in a flash of golden light.

When the light faded, Trunks was standing amid the remaining rubble, upright and proud, his sword slung over his back, golden hair standing on end. "You don't seem to understand, Babidi," Trunks called back, "I'm not some two-bit washed up fighter like the rest of your slaves. I'm a Super Saiyan, and I'll be damned before I just hand this world over to you!" He seethed with pride at his bold statements, empty as this may be. Truly, Trunks had found that his luck was running dangerously thin, and he doubted he could back up his declaration.

The taunt didn't faze Babidi. "Those are bold words, kiddo, but from what I've seen so far, you really can't back any of it up, can you?"

Well, damn.

Babidi practically reeked of his own self-satisfaction. "I tell you what. I'm actually getting bored with your show of testosterone, so I'll give you one chance, just one more chance, to give Buu everything you've got, take it or leave it." Babidi's smug grin seemed only to stretch into infinity. "We're waiting with baited breath for your answer."

Trunks counted his opponents. There was Buu, bouncing back and forth from one foot to the other with his stupid, oblivious smile on his face. Babidi stood by to him, the vertically challenged coward of a wizard. And there was a third fighter--bald, with a thin, snakelike mustache, the ends of which drooped downward to frame a salt-and-pepper goatee. A brown gi was draped over his muscular, hair-covered body.

It was then that Trunks weighed his options. Either charge once again, and be tossed aside like a rag doll, slowly but surely using up his remaining senzu, or throw everything he had at his enemies in one, mortal blow, and possibly take Buu, Babidi, or at least that showboating Majin Satan with him. Very quickly, he made his decision.

Raising his hands over his head, one palm behind the other, Trunks began to focus all his energy into one strike. _This one's for you, Gohan.  
_

* * *

Unbeknowst to the participants in that showdown, another titanic battle was being fought here, in a timeline that flowed parallel to the one Trunks knew. This fight, however, was fought not between mortal enemies for the sake of the Earth. 

No, this fight was fought for fun.

Two boys aged eight and nine respectively threw themselves at each other with all their might. Goten, second son to Goku, against Trunks, only son to Vegeta. They were the offspring of the last surviving members of the Saiyan race, best friends and occasional rivals. Their hair, golden from their Super Saiyan transformations, danced around them as they fought, trading blows like the expert fighters they were. Having discovered the power of the fusion technique, and having been quite helpless to stop Majin Buu (and later Hildegarn) Trunks and Goten had taken it unto themselves to hone their skills, and to perfect their Super Saiyan transformation, as their fathers had done so many years ago.

Though they took on the training with eagerness, the task before them was downright daunting. Their goal was to maintain the Super Saiyan form for as long as possible, in order to confront and overcome the negative effects that it brought on, and to become proficiant enough with the transformation that it could be maintained almost subconciously. Admittedly, this posed a problem at first. The strain it put on their bodies, not to mention their dramatically decreased tempers, was quite troublesome in the first few months. Even the normally affable Goten had undergone a dramatic change in personality for the worse. Despite this, however, and in spite of the many objections from their mothers, their fathers knew the necessity of their training, and allowed them to continue, helping them along the way.

And eventually, they had managed to overcome the early obstacles. The power strain was virtually nil, and the temper issues had all but been resolved. Goten and Trunks could now maintain their transformations for indefinite periods of time--even sleeping in the Super Saiyan state--without reverting to their base forms, and the power increase they had gained through their training was phenomenal. Even the normally aloof and reserved Piccolo had expressed a certain level of surprise at their power increase. The duo had begun to cement their place in the upper echelon of the Earth's heroes, emerging from the shadows of their elders at quite an early age.

Goten and Trunks broke apart for a breather, springing several paces away from each other. Goten plopped down in front of a rock formation, relaxing in the shade it provided and reclining against it, panting and wiping the sweat from his brow.

A few feet in front of him stood Trunks, seemingly unfatigued from their workout. "Tired already?" His bright yellow hair shone in the afternoon sun like some sort of bizarre crown. "Come on Goten, it's only been four hours! Looks to me like somebody's been stuffing himself again. What, was Videl over for dinner last night?"

"Hey!" said Goten defensively. "Mom cooks her best meals when we have company for dinner; I can't help it if I can't get enough." He paused to consider this. "Can I?"

Trunks folded his arms and thought about this. "Well, my dad likes to say 'discipline is the path of the true warrior,' but then again he eats more than almost anyone I know and he's still the strongest guy on the planet.

Goten cleared his throat loudly and gave Trunks a pointed look. The lavender-haired boy rolled his eyes. "Fine, not counting Super Saiyan 3s." Goten narrowed his eyes at his friend, and Trunks further conceded, "Or Gohan. Not counting Super Saiyan 3s or that spiffy transformation that Gohan does." He screwed his face up in concentration for a second, and asked "What was it we were talking about?"

Goten pondered this for a moment. "Ummmm...I don't remember," he said. He grinned, a big sheepish grin that he could only have inherited from Goku.

Trunks chuckled. Goten's grin never failed to make him laugh. "You big goof," he said under his breath, as the laughter worked its way out of his system. "So...are we gonna do this, or what? Cuz my mom says that if I'm not home by eight, I shouldn't bother coming home at all."

"That's kinda harsh," Goten said, standing up.

Trunks shrugged. "She gets that way, like, once a month. I asked her about it once, and she just got all quiet and sent me to my room. I guess it's a mom thing." His short attention span sprang into action, as he excitedly said "Hey, you know something we haven't done in a while?"

Goten smiled broadly, instantly knowing that it was Trunks was referring to. They'd seen super-charged ki blasts grapple against each other, and had watched in rapt fixation as the combatants struggled to overcome one another. It was an activity the two of them had tried time and again, and it was one that they were both quite fond of. Goten sprang forward, grinning with anticipation. "Yeeeaaaah...! This'll be fun!"

Trunks' aura came to life around him, as Gotens' flared into existence opposite him. Taking a posture that had been in his family since Grandpa Gohan's days, he began channeling his ki between his hands, cupped just behind him. "_Ka...me...ha...me..._"

Trunks smirked as he assumed his own stance, palms thrust in front of him, connected at the wrists, bent at a 90 degree angle, fingers spread. He'd developed this attack on his own, not like that hand-me-down Kamehameha wave, and he was anxious to finally get a chance to showcase it.

* * *

Another dimension. Another Earth, radically different from the prior two that appeared. A world that bore almost no resemblance to that of the Dragon Balls. A world that was untouched by the machinations of Frieza, the devestation wrought by the Androids, or the terrors of Majin Buu. A world that had never in recent memory been blown into oblivion, or reduced to a fraction of its population. A world that nonetheless had seen its share of crimes, perpetrated by humanity, against humanity. 

A world that was blissfully unaware of being caught in the midst of a vicious power struggle. A world that was defended by the most unlikely and incompetent of heroines.

Serena Tsuniko, alias Sailor Moon, slammed into the side of a building at a high velocity. Picking herself up, she rubbed the spot where her bottom had come into contact with the concrete. "Owww...that's gonna smart..."

"Eyes front, meatball head!"

Sailor Mars' warning reached her ears just in time. With a yelp, Sailor Moon ducked under a lightning-fast attack from the lemures that she and her allies were locked in battle with--an attack in the form of a soccer ball, of all things.

In front of her were two people. One was the lemures, female in personality, rotund and checkered black and white. The other was a tall man with long, blonde-reddish hair, looking to be in his early twenties. A whip was clutched tightly in his hand--his grip made it clear that he was quite frustrated. "Sakkaasan," he said through gritted teeth, "were you drinking before I brought you here? Because I'm finding it increasingly hard to believe that anyone could miss so often in the span of five minutes without being under the influence!" He punctuated the sentence with a loud crack of his whip.

Sakkaasan turned to face him and shrugged. "Hey, a girl's got needs too ya know. Maybe if ya kept that in mind, you wouldn't strike out so much with your targets, eh Tigers' Eye?" She waggled her eyebrows at him suggestively.

Tigers' Eye glared at her. "I'd keep my nose out of other people's business, if I were--"

_"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" _An orb of bright lightning, true to its name, slammed into Sakkaasan, knocking her onto her back and revealing an inherent flaw in her design.

"Help! I've fallen and I can't get up! Somebody help me! I need the ACLU! I need Amnesty International! Help me Nelson Mandela!"

Tigers' Eye shook his head and covered his eyes in embarrassment--for both Sakkaasan, and for himself for trusting in Sakkaasan in the first place. A ring of fire appeared behind him. "You're on your own, sweet thing," he muttered derisively, and with a graceful back flip into the ring, he was gone.

"Mini-Moon!" Sailor Moon snapped to her pink-haired doppelganger. "Get your tiny butt in gear!"

Sailor Mini-Moon nodded quickly from her position a few feet away. Folding her hands and closing her eyes, she whispered a quick prayer, and raised a hand over her head. A pink bell, carved from fine crystal, appeared in her hand. _"Crystal...Twinkle...Yell!"_

A ray of shining light burst forth, and out came the head of the graceful, elegant being known as Pegasus.

And with an eardrum-shattering noise, the fabric between dimensions gave way.

* * *

Trunks' gaze was fixed on Majin Buu. Yellow energy danced and crackled in his raised hands. "You wanted one last shot? Here it is! Die you damn coward!" He thrust his palms forward. _"MASENKO!"_

A tremendous beam of yellow light shot from his hands, lancing towards Buu at an alarming speed.

The monster smiled complacently at the attack, waiting until the last possible second, before opening his mouth and responding with an equally powerful, pink energy blast of his own. The beams collided in the center of their battlefield, and all fighters involved heard a loud noise, akin to a gun going off. Bright light enveloped them all, and then they saw nothing.

* * *

_"HA!"_ Goten fired a massive blast of blue energy towards Trunks. 

His friend unleashed his ki at precicely the same moment, confidence bubbling inside of him. _"MOKO TAKABISHA!"_ A massive sphere of yellow light erupted from his hands, hurtling toward Goten. The blasts met, and suddenly there was a flash, a noise like fireworks going off right by their ears, and the world went black

* * *

_"Moon...Gorgeous...Meditation!"_ White light sprang from Sailor Moon's outstretched scepter. The attack struck Sakkaasan, and with a shriek, the lemures dissolved into nothingness. 

Finally free from the battle Sailor Moon collapsed to her knees, weary. Her friends were at her side in a heartbeat, and she felt immense gratitude towards each of them individually.

"Um...Sailor Moon?" The voice of Sailor Mini-Moon, trembling nervously, met their ears.

"What's wrong?" asked Sailor Moon. She needn't have asked, however, as the cause was soon evident. The portal that Pegasus had opened to appear to them hadn't yet closed...and it was getting wider.

"Uh..." Sailor Venus stammered nervously. "I'd like that to go away now, pretty please?"

Sailor Mercury's reaction was one of curiosity, rather than fear--the thinker in her was deeply curious at what was going on before her. A transparent, blue-tinted visor slid over her eyes, and a miniature supercomputer analyzed the portal. "It looks like a rupture in the normal space-time continuum. Very interesting."

"Interesting?" The normally unflappable Sailor Jupiter's voice sounded reasonably flapped. "Interesting as in good, or interesting as in 'oh god, we're doomed?'"

"Interesting as in...well, this is very peculiar..." The gears in Sailor Mercury's head cranked almost audibly. "It seems the portal was made by two separate outputs of immense energy, colliding in the exact same spot...but I'm getting two seperate readings of energy, how can that...?" She trailed off, lost in thought.

"That IS interesting," Sailor Moon said, staring up at the halo of golden light above them. "And it means in a language that I understand?"

"Do we always have to connect the dots for you?" Sailor Mars said impatiently. "We could write an encyclopedia on things you can't understand!"

Sailor Moon was, in a heartbeat, facing off with the Soldier of Fire. "You know just as much about this as I do, you-"

"Everyone!" Sailor Mercury sounded panicked. "Something's happening! I don't know-"

There was a bright flash of golden light. The six Sailors shielded themselves from the ring of light floating above them as it contracted, imploding on itself. Before it caved in completely, six rays of light shot off in different directions. One went solo to the south, two went together to the west, and three flew alongside each other to the north.

And just as quickly as it had appeared, the portal vanished.

Sailor Mini-Moon was the first to ask. "What just happened?"

The other four looked to Sailor Mercury for an answer. And for once, she seemed to be at a loss.

* * *

NOTES- 

The ACLU is the American Civil Liberties Union, which deals with complaints and attacks against, well, civil liberties. I realize the story's set in Japan, but it seemed funny, and I wanted to throw it in there.

Chibi Trunks' attack, Moko Takabisha, is an attack borrowed from the title character of the manga/anime Ranma ½. The technique channels the confidence and determination of the user and enhance his ki with it, focusing it into an energy attack.

"Sakkaasan," is a portmonteau of the romanized Japanese spelling of the words for soccer (sakka, according to my thrashed Japanese textbook) and mother (okaasan), which is a play on the phrase "soccer mom." Heh. [quagmire Allllll riiiight...[/quagmire

"Lemures," was a term used in ancient Rome for ghosts. The term is used for the Sailor Moon monster of the week.

Any giggles or head-to-desk contact that may result from any name, attack, location, or character in this story should be directed at the people who wrote them originally, and not me, I don't come up with this stuff, I just use it in wholly original scenarios. Standard disclamers apply.


	2. Prospective Ground

**RR76: **Well. Certainly, the fact that I'm even getting reviews is a welcome surprise. The hits are nice too, I gotta say.

On to business. A few things I forgot to mention: The shipping will be at a bare minimum. One thing I noticed about this category was that almost every story had Trunks/Goku/Gohan/Vegeta falling in love with Generic Sailor Moon Hero/Villain, and I'm writing this as sort of a change in pace from that.

Another note: To spice things up, I'm mixing around the English and Japanese names for some of the characters. That doesn't effect the DBZ characters (Trunks, Goten, Buu, Babidi, Hercule) much, except for "Hercule," whose name will be the original Japanese "Mr. Satan," because Mr. Satan is a much better name than Hercule. It's also more fun to say. Also, Trunks and Trunks will have the prefixes "Chibi," or "Mirai," Japanese for "small," and "future," respectively, to differentiate one from the other.

As far as the SM characters are concerned, I'll pick and choose with them. For example, "Serena," instead of "Usagi," "Mina," over "Minako," (essentially the same name) "Lita," over "Makoto." Rei and Ami are Rei and Ami, because A: "Raye," is the most retarded-looking name on the planet, and B: "Ami," looks better than "Amy." It's a matter of aesthetics.

I can't really think of anything else...so I'm going to stop talking now

* * *

Chibi-Trunks stirred gently in his sleep, awoken by the cheerful singing of a nest of birds. His eyes hurt, and he realized that he could see nothing. A paralyzing fear that he had gone blind during his and Goten's grappling via ki blasts came over him, until he realized that his eyes were, in fact, closed. Inwardly chiding himself for jumping to conclusions, Trunks tentatively opened his eyes and saw nothing but an odd, peach-colored haze. Blinking several times to clear his vision, he realized that this mysterious haze was the chubby-cheeked, simpering face of some kind of horrendous beast. 

"WAGH!" His heart beating a mile a minute in sheer terror, Trunks scurried backward as best he could on his hands, only to discover that the first sight he had beheld was actually Goten, who was sitting on his knees and laughing at his startled friend. Trunks' composure immediately began to return, as his heartbeat returned to normal. "Goten," he panted, still a bit shook up from his rude awakening, "why were you staring at me like that?"

Goten grinned. "I was counting how long it took for you to wake up."

"Uh huh." The explanation didn't satisfy Trunks immensely, but alas, it was one that was typical of Goten. Even so, curiosity tugged at him. "And how long was I out for?"

Goten thought for a moment. "Umm, first I tried checking your wristwatch, but that was broken..." A cursory glance to his wrist revealed that the digital watch had indeed cracked and thus ceased to function. "So I tried counting, and I got to 8,432, but then I saw a squirrel, and so I chased him for a while, and then he bit me, and I got bored so I started counting again..."

"So what you're saying is that you don't really know," Trunks finished for him, "because you're a goofball with the attention span of a peanut?"

"Uh, yep, pretty much." Goten laughed a little bit more, and Trunks, somewhat mollified, plopped back onto the ground. His vision had fully cleared, but his eyes still hurt somewhat. His skin was its usual dark tan, as opposed to the bright white hue that accompanied the transformation into a Super Saiyan, and it was then that he realized neither he nor Goten were in their Super Saiyan forms. Whatever it was that had hit them was more than they could take, it would seem, causing them to revert to normal.

At that moment, it dawned on Trunks that he had no real idea where it was they were. Having flown around the world multiple times, he had a very good grasp on where everything was, and he had no memory of the area they were currently in--a clearing, situated in the middle of a forest, or a cluster of short trees, at any rate. "Did you at least take a look around?" Trunks asked, hoping that Goten hadn't dropped the ball here as he had with keeping track of time.

"Well, you were still out, and I didn't really wanna leave you alone." A feeling of warm gratitude towards Goten, mixed with the feeling of a weight dropping into his stomach, manifested inside of Trunks, and he wasn't sure whether he was glad that Goten was looking out for him, or disappointed in his absolute lack of any survival skills. "But I DID fly a little ways up, and I got a good look at the whole area." Goten got to his feet and took a moment to get his bearings.

"These woods go on for a little while in that direction." Here, Goten pointed to his left. "There's a road in that direction, like a highway, or something," he continued, turning and pointing behind him. "There's a trash pit over there," he said, pointing vaguely to his right, "annnnnnd over there's a bunch of buildings that I think is a hotel, and past that is some kinda weird city."

"Weird city?" Images of one-eyed pedestrians, stopping every few feet to press their mouths to the ground and absorb the nutrients therein by shoving their tongues into the ground danced in Trunks' head, and he couldn't help but smile at his imagination. "What do you mean weird?"

Goten shuffled his feet nervously. "Well...there's a lot of cars, for one...except none of them can fly." He must've noticed the taken-aback expression on Trunks' face, because Goten was apprehensive about continuing.

"Okay, so there's no flying cars," Trunks said, once again trying to recover from a nasty shock. "That's not so bad. I mean, that's the ONLY thing that's wrong with this place, right?"

"Um, well..." Trunks noticed Goten turn his gaze to the ground, and caught the barest glimpse of a flush crossing his face. "Something wrong?" he asked.

Goten was silent.

"Hey! Goten!"

His head snapped up, grin plastered on his face. "Yepyep! Nothing else weird or wrong with that city at all. Nope, not one grey boxy building in sight, no way no how!" Goten babbled, nodding profusely.

Trunks sighed in relief. "Well, that's a load off. Now how's about we take a look at getting some rooms at that hotel you mentioned? Fallin' asleep in the middle of nowhere takes a lot out of you."

On that note, the duo began their trek through the woods. They went on foot--Trunks reasoned that if these people lacked flying cars, then the sight of two prepubescent boys flying through the air could startle someone. Goten, being Goten, followed Trunks' lead. They moved in near silence, leaving Trunks to contemplate the situation they had found themselves in.

Neither seemed to know where they were. Trunks was certain he'd never seen the clearing they were in before, and Goten's disturbing description of the flightless city had seemed to settle that enough. This would mean that, should they encounter an enemy, they would be without reinforcements. While this didn't seem to pose a problem--Trunks hadn't sensed any significant energy, and Goten gave no indication of sensing anything himself--it was still something to take into consideration.

"Shh. This is it."

Goten's warning derailed Trunks' train of thought. Brushing aside a shrub that obscured his view, Trunks peered out into the area they had come to.

It was a series of buildings, seemingly rather old. They reminded Trunks of the ones he'd seen on the island where the Tenkai'ichi Budokai had taken place--the style was remarkably similar. Indeed, had he not known better, Trunks would have sworn that they had somehow been blown onto that particular island by the force of the blasts; that they could fly home in a matter of hours. He was an intelligent boy, however, and the thought lingered for only a moment before it was crushed under the force of logic and reason.

Goten looked at Trunks, blinking his dark eyes. "D'you think it has a swimming pool?"

"I suppose we could always ask," Trunks replied. The prospect of a swimming pool seemed to brighten his spirits somewhat. "Let's go."

"...just don't see why we always have to use MY room as command central." A voice, faint, but rapidly growing louder. Someone was coming.

Goten was already halfway out of the bushes before Trunks grabbed him, pulled him back in, and held his finger to his lips. Goten nodded his understanding, and leaned forward, still keeping himself hidden.

"It's all about convenience, Rei." A second voice, belonging to a girl, sort of high-pitched and whiny sounding. "I mean, it's right there, and we were heading there anyway. Makes sense, right?"

"Rei, before you speak, try to keep in mind that what Serena said actually does make sense." A third voice, softer, almost quiet, definitely belonging to a girl. Trunks strained his hearing to the max trying to pick up on this one.

"Fine, I'll give you that." The first voice again, like the third voice, it seemed to belong to a girl. "But that doesn't explain why we have to use it for a meeting every time something comes up."

"Well, it does have the most room," said a fourth voice--female, but a bit raspy. "And it's a lot harder to be overheard there than in an apartment complex, or a house full of people. Plus, it's where we spent most of our time studying for the entrance exams."

The group having the conversation gradually came into view, and Trunks and Goten could now discern just who they were eavesdropping on. They were all girls, the four who were having the conversation, plus one more who hadn't spoken up yet. Two of them carried cats in their arms; both girls were blonde, though their hair styles differed somewhat, one hung straight down past her waist, the other's hair was in two long, separate braids that trailed behind her as she walked. Trunks noticed that they seemed to stem from two round clumps of hair on the top of her head, and he stifled a laugh. Goten seemed to notice it too; he covered his mouth to muffle a giggle.

"Exactly, we associate it with school and tests, meaning Serena would be uncomfortable in here!" The first voice belonged to a girl with long, raven black hair.

The girl with the two braids seemed miffed at this, as she began barking at the raven-haired girl in a high-pitched, illegible tone. It was strangely fitting to Trunks" that the second voice they heard belonged to her.

The other three--the blonde, carrying a white cat, a brunette in a long green dress, and a girl with blue hair who vaguely reminded Trunks of his mother, each gave reactions that indicated that they were used to this kind of behavior, and, opening a sliding door, stepped inside of one of the buildings, with the raven-haired girl--Rei was her name, Trunks deduced--and the girl with two braids in tow, still locked in their furious argument.

They heard the door shut behind them, and Trunks and Goten finally climbed out of their shrubby protection. Immediately, the two burst into laughter. "D-did you see the g-girl with the balls on her head?" Goten asked between giggles. He couldn't maintain that level of communication for long, and was soon collapsed on the ground, laughing himself silly, Trunks joining him a second later.

"Ahem."

They abruptly ceased their laughter. Craning their necks slightly, Goten and Trunks saw a tall man dressed in what appeared to be some kind of bath robe--clearly, he'd just come out of the pool. His hair was scruffy and unkempt, and his chin was covered in beard stubble. When he spoke, it was with a somewhat scratchy, yet adult-sounding voice. "Is there a reason you boys are trespassing here?"

"T-trespassing?" Goten asked, springing up to his feet. "We weren't trespassing!"

"Yeah," said Trunks, slowly getting back to his feet. His ki flickered briefly in response to a perceived threat, though he kept it to a minimum, knowing full-well that this scruffy-looking guy, probably a janitor, didn't pose a real danger. "We were actually gonna see about staying here."

The man's voice seemed to lose its rough-sounding edge immediately. "Ah, well that's different then. I'd have to talk to Hino-Sensei about it, but if you're interested in staying, that definately changes things."

Trunks relaxed a bit more. "Great, well, if it's at all possible, we'd like your best room. Also, can you tell us which way to the pool? It's been a long day, and we'd kinda like to relax."

The scruffy-looking man stared at them incredulously. "'Best room?' 'Pool?' What do you think this is, some kind of hotel?!"

Goten scratched the back of his head nervously. "Actually..."

This seemed to evoke an unpleasent reaction from Scruffy. "Oh my--you DO think this is a hotel! This is the Hikawa shrine, kids, not a Best Western, so unless you're here to perform backbreaking labor, broaden your horizons and free your soul, then get out of here!"

"Backbreaking...?" Goten whimpered quietly. "Labor...?"

Trunks' head snapped around to face Goten. "He's gonna make us do chores! Let's get out of here!" A flash of blue light surrounded his body, and Trunks took flight. Goten took a moment longer, giving Scruffy a hurried "Itwasverynicemeetingyou!" and following Trunks shortly thereafter.

In a matter of seconds, both boys were long gone, leaving a gaping, speechless man in their wake. When he finally regained his powers of speech, he could only babble one word. "D...d-d...DEMONS!!!"

* * *

"If you two are quite finished," choked out the black cat in Serena's arms, currently being crushed against the irate girl's stomach as she verbally sparred with Rei, "I'd very much like to breathe sometime today!" 

"See, Serena, you're so irresponsible," Rei lashed out, "can't you see that you're hurting Luna? You can be so selfish sometimes!"

"I wouldn't be hurting Luna if you wouldn't be acting like such a total jerk!" Serena shrieked back. "So really, YOU'RE the one who's hurting Luna!"

"That doesn't make any sense!" Rei shot back. The other girls (plus Artemis) looked on in an exasperated sort of way, as if resigned to the fact that Serena and Rei would be bickering back and forth 'til they were ripe old ladies. "Why can't you just take responsibility for your own actions for once? It's just so-"

The door flung open, shocking the two girls out of their argument, and causing the others in the room to jump several inches into the air. A disheveled looking fellow in shrine attire was standing in the doorway shouting "DEMONS! DEMONS IN THE SHRINE! DEMONS!"

Rei was staring at him with a sort of burning anger in her eyes. "Yuuichirou," she said quietly, her calm tone belying the fury that lay beneath, "may I ask just what it is you're babbling about?"

Yuuichirou was sweating and panting heavily. "Demons--lazy freeloading demons! They wanted a room, and I told them they'd have to work, and they-they-they--" He pointed to the sky with a quivering finger "FLEW! They FLEW away! DEMONS!"

The four girls who didn't currently want to maim Yuuichirou were looking at him with skepticism etched onto their faces. Luna had broken free of Serena's grip, and seemed to pay him no heed, rather preoccupied with the fact that she was free to breathe again. "So," Rei said in her icy tone, "You're saying that, by telling these demons that they needed to do some chores around the shrine, you were able to send them packing?"

Yuuichirou nodded furiously. "Yes, yes, exactly! The demons, Rei, the demons!"

"And you felt the need to barge into my room, uninvited, to tell me this?"

His terror subsided, and was replaced with another sort of fear--one that dealt with the fact that his chances of ever bedding Rei receading. "W-well...yeah, but...Rei, they were demons! And they could fly!" He jabbed his finger at the sky again to emphasize this.

"I understand, Yuuichirou," said Rei, "but do you have any proof of the demons being there?"

"I..." Yuuichirou stopped for a moment to think about this. Gradually, his face turned pink. "I should go now," he said sheepishly.

"Yes, you should," said Rei, and a thoroughly embarrassed Yuuichirou left the room, shutting the door behind him. Rei pressed two fingers to her forehead, rubbing in small circles. "Honestly, the nerve of that guy..."

"You shouldn't be so hard on him Rei," piped up Ami. "He could be under a lot of stress, or exhausted. Has he been working himself harder than usual?"

"He's probably been working something," said Mina with a smirk. "Like, I dunno, sake?"

"Please," sighed Rei. "Yuuichirou's alot of things, but he's no drunk. He's probably just been in the sun for too long."

"That's all well and good," said Luna with a yawn, curled up on the floor next to Serena, "but I really don't see what that has to do with what we saw during the fight today. Shouldn't we focus a little bit more on that?"

"I have been thinking a bit more about that," said Ami, "specifically about those rays of light that had shot out from the portal at the end."

"And?" asked the other four girls in unison.

"There's a theory," began Ami, "a fairly new one in the scientific world, that implies the existance of multiple dimensions, all existing simultaniously alongside our own." The girls' expressions showed they comprehended thus far--even Serena's--and so she continued. "From what we can tell, Pegasus resides in one such dimension, and he emerges to help us fight when he's summoned. What I think," she said, "judging by the data I gathered during the event, is that at the exact moment Pegasus transferred from his dimension to ours, two incredibly high-yield explosions, in two different dimensions, occurred simultaneously in exactly the same spot, which roughly corresponded, in our dimension, to the point where Pegasus emerged."

"And the force of those blasts somehow widened the portal and stretched it open to their worlds," finished Lita, the first horse to cross the finish line.

Ami nodded. "It's astounding, really. But what really had me thinking were those lights at the end." She scooted closer to the short table that the four had gathered around, lowering her voice slightly, as if someone might overhear a forbidden tidbit of information. "It's my belief--and please bear in mind that this is merely amaturish speculation--that those rays of light were the ones responsible for tearing open the portal in the first place."

A hush settled over the occupants of Rei's bedroom. "So somewhere out there," said Rei, "there's a whole gang of guys from another dimension?"

Mina rolled her eyes. "Because that's never happened to us before, right?" she said sarcastically.

Smiles crossed the faces of her friends briefly, all of them fading as they exchanged glances with each other. The memories of their previous encounters with extra-terrestrial beings replayed in their minds. One by one, their thoughts drifted back to Yuuichirou bursting in, disheveled, screaming about demons...

Serena looked at the door behind her suspiciously, and gave a voice to what they all were thinking. "Gee, you don't think...maybe Yuuichirou was on to something?"

"Perhaps," said Ami. "I could be wrong altogether. They could have been anything, really."

To her friends, it might have seemed as though she was trying more to convince herself than them.

They would be correct.

* * *

"Princess? Is something wrong?" 

Rini looked down at the tiny grey kitten she cradled in her arms. Diana was staring up at her with her round, ruby-red eyes, an expression of concern on her face--or as much of a facial expression as a kitten could manage. She smiled at Diana. "It's nothin' Diana...just kinda annoyed at Serena."

"Annoyed with the future queen?" squeaked Diana. "Why?"

Rini looked up again, out across the busy streets of Tokyo, people and cars bustling back and forth in all directions. Though she loved her life in the 20th century, Rini couldn't help but wonder how her parents had managed to grow up and live their lives with the overpowering odor of smog hanging in the air, day in and day out. Sometimes just standing on the sidewalk, watching the traffic go by, was enough to make her eyes water.

"Princess? Why are you annoyed?"

Rini snapped back to reality, and smiled at Diana again. "Oh, no reason...except that she's a big rotten jerk who treats me like a little girl.

"But you ARE a little girl, Princess," Diana pointed out.

"Still!" said Rini impatiently. "I'm just as important as any other member of the team, and I'm WAY more mature than Serena, so why didn't I get to come to the meeting? I saw that shiny thing too, you know!"

"Her Majesty said you'd just get bored," said Diana. "Besides, aren't you enjoying spending the day with Endymion-sama?"

Rini turned herself around and pressed her forehead against the glass window of the ice cream parlor. Inside was Darien, standing in line. He saw Rini looking at him and smiled, giving a little wave. She waved back and returned the smile. "I am...I just wish that Serena wouldn't treat me like such a kid all the time..."

The line crept forward slowly. Darien was still several spots away from the front counter. Rini sighed irritably. "I hate lines on weekends..."

Diana didn't answer--she'd caught sight of a small bird hopping on the ground. Leaping down from Rini's arms, (the girl had since occupied herself with muttering under her breath about the line for ice cream, and thus didn't notice the kitten's departure) she squatted down in a crouch, tightening her powerfully-coiled rear legs, creeping forward by her front paws.

The bird didn't notice. It hopped to the edge of the sidewalk, twisting its head in all directions--all but the one Diana was in. The cat struck, leaping forward suddenly with tremendous force.

The bird noticed at the last second, and fluttered out of harm's way. Diana sailed harmlessly over it and landed in the street. She blinked a few times, trying to comprehend what had just happened, not knowing where the bird was, or where it was that she was lying.

"...well when I'm queen, ice cream will be free, and everybody will have their own personal ice cream man, and they'll never ever have to stand in line ever again. What do you think Diana?" It was then that Rini noticed that Diana was no longer in her arms. "Diana?" She looked left, right, then behind her, and saw the kitten, sitting in the street, a red sports car speeding towards her, totally unaware of the furry obstacle in its path.

"_Diana!"  
_

* * *

Trunks walked down the crowded city street, hands in his jacket pockets. In his mind, he was replaying the last few minutes of his battle with Majin Buu, how he'd used the Masenko technique, how Buu had countered with a blast of his own, how the two blasts met, how he awoke several hours later on a park bench with a little boy poking him in the nose with a sharp stick. 

Nothing seemed to add up. No matter how many times he replayed those last fateful moments, he couldn't deduce what had brought him here. Nothing out of the ordinary, nobody present but him, Majin Satan, and--

_Babidi! _

It was him, there was no doubt about it. Babidi had transported Trunks to this city, thus ridding himself of the last bump in the road towards the destruction of Earth. How he'd done it was irrelevant--the fact that he HAD done it was all that mattered.

_And now, _thought Trunks bitterly, _I have no way to get home. Babidi wins. _This last thought struck him like a punch to the gut. It was the same feeling as he had following his fight with Cell, knowing that he'd failed, utterly and completely. There were no bright spots here.

_"Diana!"_

Trunks heard the shout, turned in the direction it had come from, saw the girl on the opposite side of the street, saw the cat, saw the car rushing closer, closer, ever closer--

He leapt from the sidewalk, jetted towards the cat, snatched it in his arms, and slammed into the building across from him so hard that it shook from the force of the impact.

The kitten leapt from his arms and back into the arms of its owner, a pink-haired girl with an unorthodox hairstyle that brought to mind cotton candy. The girl hugged her kitten close to her. "Diana, you--don't do that ever again, you scared me to death!"

Trunks picked himself off the ground, and dusted himself off. The girl noticed him, and said "Thank you...she's too curious for her own good sometimes."

"It was nothing," said Trunks, cracking his neck and wincing. This was a lie; the act of saving the kitten's life had been quite something indeed--the impact with the wall had hurt his neck quite a bit. Diana herself had since scurried up the girl's arm and was flopped over her shoulder, gazing at Trunks through her bright red eyes. She seemed to beam at him, and Trunks was reminded of the kitten that often adorned his late grandfather's shoulder. He couldn't help but crack a half-smile at the memory of the old man. "Just try to keep a better eye on her, okay?"

She nodded, smiling at him. "My name's Rini," she said, extending a tiny hand. "What's yours?"

This was a bit unexpected. The most Trunks had expected were a few exchanged pleasantries and a quick goodbye. He hadn't expected the girl to actually try to make friends with him. Obviously she'd never been taught not to talk to strangers.

_Then again, _thought Trunks, _saving her cat's life might've earned me her trust. And I don't want to hurt her feelings..._

Returning the smile, he grasped Rini's hand and shook softly. "Trunks," he said. "I'm, uh, kind of new in town, and I'm not really sure where it is I am..."

Rini giggled. "It's okay, it's pretty easy to get lost in Tokyo. I even did it a few times when I moved here." She'd misunderstood his meaning--Trunks literally did not know where on Earth he was, and as he had no recollection of a place called "Tokyo," the idea that he had been transported to another world seemed to solidify in his mind. "Try making friends with people who know their way around the city," Rini continued, "or carry a map around with you."

Trunks rubbed the back of his neck, still sore from his collision. A hollow sort of feeling had sprouted inside of him--for the girl's sake, he tried to hide it. "I don't really make new friends easily, but if you could tell me where I could get a map-"

"I got your ice cream Rini, but they were out of chocolate, so I got you-" A tall, dark-haired man carrying two ice cream cones had exited the building next to Trunks and Rini, and had just caught sight of the demi-Saiyan. "Who's this?" he asked. His tone was friendly and even, but the shrewd Trunks could sense a hint of protectiveness in his voice. Probably a father or an older brother.

"This is Trunks," Rini said to the man. "He saved Diana from getting run over by a car just now."

The man smiled at this. "I guess I should thank you then," he said, extending a hand. "Diana means alot to the both of us. My name's Darien."

Trunks shook his hand. Darien's grip was firm; even through the bulwark of his Saiyan power, Trunks could feel Darien's strength. It surprised him a bit. "It's a pleasure," he said. Introductions weren't Trunks' strong point, and he yearned for something to divert his attention.

Darien looked at Trunks a bit more thoroughly. "Um...I don't mean any offense, but did you know your clothes are all torn up?" he asked. Darien still sounded cordial, yet his curiosity made Trunks a bit uncomfortable, especially with regards to his own appearence. He looked down at himself and inwardly grimaced.

He was wearing the same outfit as during his battle with Majin Buu--his jacket was torn and dirty and his pants were stained with blood in some places. His undershirt was more or less intact, despite being caked with dirt, but his overall appearence was quite unkempt. He looked as if--and he was sure that Darien thought this--he had been fighting, which he had, but he couldn't exactly go around telling everybody this. Trunks decided that a cover story would be in order. "Uh, well..." He struggled for an excuse, when he sensed something--a brief flicker of ki, barely noticeable but definately there. _Could it be...?_

Rini turned toward Darien. "He DID just leap through a street and crash into a building, you know."

This brought Trunks' attention back to the conversation at hand. "Right, there was some, uh, broken glass in the street, and I got kinda cut up by it, and then the crash into the building..."

Darien nodded. "I felt that, yeah. It was like an earthquake."

And this line of conversation was gone as quickly as it had come, leaving the trio, once more, without anything to talk about, and an awkward silence settled over the three of them. In an effort to break the silence, Darien asked "So, Trunks, what do you do for a living?"

_Aren't they inquisitive? _Trunks wondered if all people in this city were as forward when meeting total strangers as Darien and Rini. Still, it was a valid question, and they'd done nothing to wrong him, so he chose to reply, though he tried to word it carefully. "I'm going to inherit the family business from my mom in a few years." Vague, simple, direct. It seemed to suffice.

"Oh really? What kind of business?" Darien asked.

_D'oh. _At least the interest seemed to be genuine Thinking quickly, Trunks blurted "Manufacturing. Various things. Um, mostly car parts, mechanical stuff."

And there it was again--unmistakable this time. The same ki he'd felt a moment ago. And a second later, Trunks sensed a second ki. They were close enough in power to mistake one for the other, yet there was something distinguishing one from the other. A sort of familiarity towards one that reminded him of his--

"Will you excuse me?" Trunks asked. Though he was polite in the best of times, there was an excitement bubbling up inside of him, one that grew more and more as he focused on the ki he sensed. "There's something I have to take care of that I just remembered." He didn't wait for a reply.

"It was nice meeting you!" Rini called out after him. "Thank you for saving Diana!" Trunks gave a quick wave behind him, before turning a corner out of sight.

Rini looked up at Darien. "He seemed nice."

"Yeah, he did seem nice enough," replied Darien. "But, uh, Rini?"

"Yes?"

"Try not to talk to strangers on the street so much."

* * *

Trunks waved vaguely behind him in response to Rini's farewell, turned a corner, and ducked into an adjacent alley. His mind was focused on those bursts of ki--they were still there, and were on the move. Trunks focused his mind and tried discerning who they belonged to. 

_The only other people that were caught in that blast were Babidi, Buu, and Majin Satan, _he thought to himself. _Babidi doesn't fly long distances, so that leaves Buu and the Majin._

But the ki he sensed felt remarkably different from Buu's or Majin Satan's, and the power differences between theirs and the ki he felt now was phenominal. There was always the possibility that they belonged to residents of the city, but Trunks failed to sense any significant ki upon his arrival.

One way or another, this was something that he couldn't ignore. If they were indeed as powerful as they felt, and if they were somehow transported here along with him, then perhaps they could shed some light on his current situation.

But there was something about one of the ki, something very familiar. He knew he'd felt it before, and he was almost certain where. Without a doubt, that ki belonged to Trunks' father.

A blue aura surrounded him as he released a portion of his own ki, and Trunks took off, quickly gaining altitude and passing into the cover of the clouds.

* * *

NOTES- 

It's exceedingly difficult to write from the perspective of the villains. Originally I wanted to show what happened to Babidi and company first, but that was a little harder than I anticipated, so I started off with Chibi-Trunks and Goten instead. It seems to have worked out.

"Tenkai'ichi Budokai," is the Japanese name for the World Martial Arts Tournament. Just because I can.


	3. Surprise, Surprise

**_RR76: _**You'll have to forgive my lateness in updating.

Anyway, notes. For my faithful reader, SaintH, Sound and Fury is a work in progress, though this time there is some marginal progress going on.

School has a tendency to interfere with life though, so updates will appear sparingly, but I'll try to keep them regula

That's about all. Get on with it.

_

* * *

__Hours earlier  
__

* * *

_

Babidi trudged, shivering, through the arctic snow. His teeth chattered in his bulbous, yellowish head, and he wrapped his cape around his torso in a vain attempt to keep warm. The blizzard raged with an insatiable fury, striking up a haze of snow that nearly blinded the wizard.

True, conditions were poor. But they could have been far worse. Having felt the rigors of extra-dimensional travel in the past, Babidi had the good sense to throw up a barrier around himself to allow easier passage during his involuntary journy, and upon his egress from the portal, he found himself quite conscious and in one piece.

The same could not be said for his lackeys. Majin Satan and Buu were both out cold. Babidi had written off Majin Satan immediately--he was, after all, a cronie, and there was never any shortage of those. As far as Buu was concerned, Babidi had taken care to seal him once again, that no damage might come to him in the absence of his master. With these loose ends tied, Babidi had begun his trek through the tundra, while attempting to discern where, exactly, he was.

He was quite certain that he had passed into another dimension. How he came to be here, he knew not, only that he was, and if Buu and Mr. Satan had passed through the dimensional barrier, then the boy who'd challenged him would no doubt be there as well.

_And here I am, completely un-escorted, _Babidi thought, grimacing. _Perhaps I should have brought Mr. Satan along anyway..._

His train of thought was derailed suddenly. Directly below him, Babidi could feel some kind of presence--it was human, but there was something else about it, something different, something more than human. It was strong--not nearly as strong as even the weakest of his Majins--but certainly significant enough to warrant an investigation.

Focusing his energy, Babidi nullified his corporeal body, phased through the ground beneath him, and dropped down into some kind of cavern. It was pitch-black; Babidi could see nothing around him, but on the bright side, it was warmer than the blizzard he'd come out of. Overall, the situation was an improvement, and Babidi was quite content to lick his wounds and plan his eventual victory.

But still...the matter of that unknown power nagged at him. It was in this chamber, somewhere, it simply had to--

A massive, eardrum-shattering crash rang in Babidi's ears, and a sudden gust of frigid wind nipped at him. He whirled around, ready to unleash his power upon whatever intruder dared to challenge his might.

"Lord Babidi! Thank goodness I found you!"

Babidi's entire body slumped. The idiot had survived.

"Majin Satan! I'm certainly glad you managed to survive in these conditions," he said, forcing a smile and managing to keep his tone convincingly upbeat. "Who would have known that you'd pull through...in sub-zero temperatures...without freezing to death..."

Mr. Satan struck a pose, and said "What can I say? I'm of hardy stock, master!" He belted out a laugh; a loud, obnoxious, unbelievably irritating laugh that, for a split second, made Babidi contemplate freezing to death topside over remaining in this compromised shelter with the buffoon he'd found to serve him.

Still, good help was difficult to find. With Majin Buu sealed away again, it seemed that he was back to square one, except with fewer resources and less help than before. Mr. Satan did go about his job with gusto, and he seldom let his master down, though he was an insufferable nuisance. Under the circumstances, however, it seemed that Babidi would be forced to make due with what he had available.

Waving a hand almost casually, the ceiling of his new lair reformed and sealed itself back up. Babidi strode further into the chamber, Mr. Satan close behind. "I assume," said Babidi, "that you can feel that presence as strongly as I can?"

"Of course, Lord Babidi," replied Mr. Satan. "In fact, I don't suppose it'd be coming from that?" He raised an arm and pointed over Babidi's shoulder.

Babidi kept walking. "Coming from what? How is it possible that you can see in the dark better than I--" He slammed into something cold and hard, and bounced backward a pace.

"Lesson learned," Babidi muttered, rubbing his bruised scalp. Light seemed to be an essential here. How that had missed his notice was beyond him. _Must be getting senile... _

At a whim from Babidi, bright light filled the chamber, and for the first time, he was able to get a good look at his surroundings. The chamber was vast and mostly empty, with no sign of recent habitation. A thick layer of dust had settled on the floor; every footstep Babidi or Mr. Satan took echoed loudly and threw up a sizable amount of dust. Against the far wall sat a black throne, carved from what appeared to be obsidian. A pedastal sat in front of the throne, with a (rather dusty, more so than the rest of the room) crystal ball set atop it.

The object Babidi had collided with was, itself, a massive ice crystal. There was no apparent purpose for it being there, and Babidi was about to write it off as a strange decorating choice, when he noticed that the crystal had a single occupant--no doubt, the energy Babidi felt came from him.

Upon closer inspection, Babidi saw that he was definately human. Blonde hair adorned his head. His face was young and handsome, and he was clad in a grey uniform of some kind. His body and face were frozen in an expression of terror, true, unfiltered terror. His end had not been a pleasant one, Babidi surmised.

Mr. Satan stepped up behind his master and gazed into the ice crystal. "Wonder what the dead guy's for," he muttered, folding his muscular arms. "Whoever lived here before must've had some kinda weird fetish for dead bodies, or somethin'."

"He's not dead," Babidi corrected. "In fact, it appears as though he's very much alive, and in some kind of stasis. It's not unlike what I did to Majin Buu, really..."

The thought of the sealed-up Buu appeared in his mind, and he made a mental note to check into that. "I can reverse the effect," said Babidi, "but I can't guarantee what state he'll be in when he awakens."

Mr. Satan smirked, and pounded a fist into his open palm. "Hell, if he gives you any trouble, his ass is grass, master."

* * *

The ice climbed, further and further. It was beyond futile to resist at this point, yet Jadeite struggled against the rapidly growing ice crystal to his last breath, begging and pleading for Queen Beryl to grant him mercy. His pleas fell on deaf ears, and with one final cry of terror, the ice crystal finished its growth, and sealed the Shitennou within. 

As quickly as it had sprung up, it seemed to recede. At first, Jadeite believed it to be merely wishful thinking. Within seconds, though, he found that the crystal had completely fallen from his body, leaving him a free man once more. His first act as a free man was to collapse to his hands and knees, as he found his entire body to be quite numb from exposure to the cold. His eyes hurt, and he daren't open them. For the longest time, his teeth chattered, and he could not, try as he might, form words.

"Don't force yourself to move," the voice of Queen Beryl said to him. "You were in there far longer than you think, I believe."

He had been given clemency. His queen needed him once more. "Thank you...my queen," said Jadeite, laboring to form a proper reply.

A derisive snort met his ears, and he flinched. _Have I offended her somehow? _

"He's just tryin' to insult you, master. I can take him out for you, if you want," said another voice, one that Jadeite didn't recognize.

"Open your eyes, human," said the first voice--now that he had a chance to really listen to it, it sounded nothing like Queen Beryl. He wondered how, in hindsight, he could have mistaken the voice for hers. Though it hurt to do so, Jadeite complied with the request and opened his eyes.

His queen's chamber was in a state of disrepair. Queen Beryl herself was nowhere to be seen. The only beings other than him in the room were a squat frog-like creature with a bulbous head, and a heavily muscled, bald-headed man with an "M," tattooed on his forehead. "Where is Queen Beryl?" asked Jadeite.

"Tut tut," said the smaller of the two. "How rude of you. Aren't you in the least bit curious about who it was that freed you?"

"As far as I'm concerned," said Jadeite, rising to his feet, "you're intruders in my queen's realm. I demand an explanation, in the name of Queen Beryl of the Dark Kingdom."

The small one raised an eyebrow. His companion cracked his knuckles, sensing that the situation was reaching a boiling point. Chuckling slightly, the smaller one met Jadeite's challenge with his own brand of rhetoric. "I'll make this easy for you, human. I was the one who freed you from your prison. I can return you there, if I so desire, or I can have my muscle-headed friend here beat you to death. Or--and here's an idea--you could shut your mouth and listen to what I have to say."

Jadeite's anger boiled over. "You don't know what you're up against," he snarled, and charged at the annoyance, murder in his eyes.

Quick as lightning, his larger companion had interposed himself between Jadeite and the wizard, and shot out his right fist. The punch struck Jadeite in the stomach, and he collapsed to the ground, clutching the organ in question.

The wizard laughed. It was a high-pitched, grating, warbling sort of noise that hurt Jadeite's ears as much as the brutish enforcer's fist had hurt his torso. "P-point taken," Jadeite gasped out through tightly clenched teeth.

Idly floating a few feet in the air, the wizard spoke. "Now then, Mr. Jadeite, I will lay things out for you in the most simple and easy to understand terms. I am called Babidi. The man who so thoroughly emasculated you is my associate, Mr. Satan. We hail from another dimension, and have become trapped here under some unusual circumstances."

"What does this have to do with me?" growled Jadeite breathlessly. His stomach still ached from the blow, and his lungs had yet to completely refill with air.

"It's quite simple, young man," said Babidi. His eyes narrowed to slits, and a greasy, smug grin crossed his face. "I need you."

* * *

_Several hours later_

Having narrowly escaped performing manual labor in exchange for lodgings, Goten and Trunks now sped through the air. They cruised at a high altitude, so as to avoid being seen by the populace below. Goten felt guilty about rushing off in such a hurry--his mother had always taught him that when meeting new people, it was important to remember to use good manners, and he felt he had let her down in this regard. Trunks had a saying, though: "What moms don't know can't hurt them," and Goten often found himself telling him this, after each and every scheme he and Trunks pulled off.

"Say Goten," his friend piped up suddenly, his first words since they escaped from the shrine. "When you said that this city didn't have a single dull grey boxy building, what you really meant to say was that it was completely full of them, right?"

Shoot, he found out. "Uhh...yep! Guess I just didn't use the right words, eh?" Excellent cover story. No seeing through that.

Trunks just looked at him. Goten felt his pride in his cover story literally melt away, like so much hot butter on oatmeal. "Okay, okay, so I lied to you, but can you blame me? Look at this city! It's so...dull!"

"I know what you mean," said Trunks, sniffing the air. "And it smells funny. Like an airplane's fart."

Goten giggled. "That's probably a'cause there's an airplane flying, like, right above us."

"W-what?!" Trunks screeched to a halt in midair, and Goten overshot him before realizing his friend's sudden drop in velocity. "An airplane?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I didn't think it was important," said Goten. "I mean--"

"Dummy!" snapped Trunks. "They can see us flying, you know!"

"...So?"

"So?!" Trunks sure was taking this hard, for reasons Goten knew not. "People back home freak out everytime they see us or one of the others flying. How do you think these guys are gonna react, huh?"

"...Well, gee Trunks..." Goten tapped his index fingers together repeatedly, a nervous habit he'd picked up somewhere. Probably from Krillin. "I'm sorry, I didn't really think about it like that..."

"You didn't think about it at all, goof." Trunks sighed and hung his head in exasperation. "At least they didn't see us, right?"

As if on cue, the airplane began to descend. Not twenty yards away from where Trunks and Goten were floating, passengers on the plane's right side were staring out the windows, mouths agape, at the pair of flying children.

"Goten," said Trunks to his friend, who was currently waving to the passengers with a grin. Trunks covered his face with his palm, blushing. "Remind me to kill you later."

_BOOM!_

A head-splitting noise rocked the two boys as the plane exploded in midair. Orange and red flames flared up and danced in midair, before blinking out as quickly as they'd appeared. Black smoke billowed in the air where the plane had been, where hundreds of people had been blissfully unaware of their imminent demise. Goten and Trunks stared in disbelief at the explosion they had witnessed.

"I-it wasn't you, was it?" stammered Trunks to his friend. "D-did you...?"

"N-no, never..." Goten stammered back. "I didn't even see--"

A purple aura suddenly parted the smoke. Goten could clearly make out a human form, though he didn't recognize the person to whom it belonged. His brown gi billowed in the wind around his muscular body, and his bald head shone in the bright sunlight, a fact which brought a smile to Goten's lips in spite of himself. "Aww, he doesn't look that tough, does he?"

Trunks made no response. "Trunks? Hey, Trunks?"

"Goten," breathed Trunks, just loud enough for the two of them. "Look at his forehead."

Goten did. Indeed, it was quite a difficult thing to miss, and he wondered how it was he could have overlooked that. Branded on his forehead was, written in curling, flowing script, the letter "M." Goten recognized it immediately. "You don't think..."

"Yeah, I do," snapped Trunks. "Doesn't mean we can't take him." With a flash of light, Trunks assumed his Super Saiyan form and flew full-speed at the intruder.

He smirked, sidestepped Trunks, and smashed his right forearm into the back of his neck. Trunks gave a brief cry of pain, overcome with the force of the blow. His attacker, laughing triumphantly, began methodically pummeling Trunks' body, smashing his fists into the boy's stomach, chest and face mercilessly.

"Trunks!" Goten felt his golden aura wash over him, and he soared to Trunks' rescue. The attacker noticed Goten immediately and shot out his left leg, aiming for Goten's head. Goten saw the attack coming and veered to the left, flying straight past the attacker, and several feet behind him.

The attacker whirled around, raised a hand, and fired off a blast of scarlet energy. Goten ascended, and the attack sailed harmlessly past him. He continued flying upward until he was absolutely certain that he was out of his opponent's sight, before stopping and taking a deep breath.

He stretched out, sensing the ki around him. He felt the enemy's location, felt Trunks firmly in the man's grasp, felt something else entirely, something big and powerful and heading their way.

Goten knew he didn't have much time. Cupping his hands behind him, and trying to ignore the new, frighteningly strong ki he sensed, he began to focus his energy into a single blast.

* * *

Trunks' tiny body was wracked with pain as his enemy continued smashing away at him. He was laughing, laughing heartily, clearly enjoying himself as he pummeled poor Trunks into oblivion. 

_Goten, where the heck are you? _screamed Trunks in his mind._ I'm dying over here!_

From above, he received his answer. _"Kamehameha!"_

Bright blue light lanced towards them at an alarming rate. The attacker saw this, panicked, dropped Trunks, and flew off to avoid Goten's attack. The Kamehameha wave hurtled towards the ground, and Trunks silently prayed that, by now, Goten had learned to control his energy attacks. The blast did a sharp, 45 degree turn, and headed off in another direction. Trunks let out a sigh of relief as the wave faded and dissolved, leaving no trace of its existence.

He heard the sound of an energy blast, turned his head to the sky, and saw Goten dropping down, a trail of smoke curling out of his back. He regained control, halted his descent, and floated next to Trunks. Their attacker dropped down to join them a moment later, fists clenched and resting on his hips, grinning a smug, self-satisfied grin.

"This guy's too much," grumbled Trunks to Goten. "He's alot stronger and faster than either of us."

Goten looked at Trunks, his face alight with excitement. "What about the fusion? That'd beat him for sure!"

Trunks shook his head. "We'd have to land, perform the dance, and power up, and while we're doing all that, he could kill us both and blow up the city in one shot."

Goten's ears practically drooped themselves. He gulped as he turned back to face their attacker, who still floated in his ridiculous posture. "Th-then how do we fight him? There's no way we can take him on alone..."

"Then we _won't _take him on alone," said Trunks. His voice was firm and resolute; he had never felt more like his father's son than at that point. "Goten, listen to me: We can take this guy, but we need to work together. This has to go off perfectly, or else we don't have a prayer. Got it?"

Goten gave a shaky nod. "Good," breathed Trunks. "Now, on the count of three, I'm going to do a nosedive, and when I do that, I need you to charge at him and keep him busy. I'm gonna fly up behind him, and when that happens, you need to knock him backwards, and we'll hit him from both sides with ki blasts. Do you understand?"

Goten nodded again. "Good," said Trunks. His aura flashed again, and Goten's did likewise alongside him. "Now, on the count of three. One...two..."

_"Burning attack!"_

From out of nowhere, a sphere of yellow ki collided with the enemy. He roared in pain at the unexpected attack, lurched forward, and whirled around to face his attacker.

The one who fired that blast appeared, quite suddenly, and as if out of thin air, right next to Goten and Trunks' attacker. There was a flash of steel, another roar of pain, and in a split second, the enemy was clutching at the side of his head, as thick red blood seeped out from between his fingers. As quickly as he had appeared, the attacker turned tail and ran, speeding away from the scene as fast as he could.

The new arrival folded his arms and watched him leave. Trunks stared at him in awe. He was clad in a pair of black trousers, a black wife beater, and a navy blue jean jacket. The Capsule Corp. emblem was emblazoned on the jacket's shoulder, which, while shocking in itself, was not the biggest surprise that the stranger had brought.

Goten stared at him, awestruck. "You...you look just like--"

"Me." The stranger blinked, turned his head, and looked at Trunks. His eyebrows arched in surprised. "You're him, aren't you?" continued Trunks. "The other Trunks. The one from the future. That's you, isn't it?"

A little shakily, the other Trunks nodded his confirmation. "I didn't expect to find you here. Or, well, anywhere for that matter." He looked from Trunks to Goten, trying to process this sudden turn of events. "How did you two...?"

"It's really a long story," said Trunks, "but in short, we don't know. Any ideas?"

Mirai Trunks shook his head. "A few ideas, but nothing really concrete. Especially after seeing..." He stared in the direction that the attacker had fled in. "This might be a bit more complex than I'd thought."

* * *

Nothing really to say here. I never saw the first season of SM, so I'm a little shaky on the details of Jadeite's demise, personality, etc. but I did do some research, and I think I got it down well enough. 


End file.
